Spinach & Rice Stuffed Chicken Thighs

Seasoned and tenderized chicken thighs that are stuffed with a mixture of rice, spinach garlic and other ingredients to make a perfect combination of greens, grains and protein. The first time i put this recipe together i fell in love with it from the first taste of the rice stuffing, it tasted so perfect to me, i knew the recipe was going to be good. My husband thought he wouldn’t like the spinach in there but after he tried it, he was pleasantly surprised.

Making these chicken rolls can be a little more time consuming but once you get the hang of it, it’ll go by quick. I’d say the tenderizing the meat part is what takes up a lot of the prep time but as soon as you get that off the list, the rest is a breeze.

Tip: For a better tenderizing meat experience, place a double layer plastic wrap on your working surface, place the thigh and cover with another layer of thick plastic wrap. This helps speed up the process by flipping the meat and preventing the meat mallet from sticking to the meat or gathering meat pieces on it. (see pics for examples) Need i mention the clean up process is a breeze too.

Ingredients:

Chicken Thighs

Spinach

Rice

Mozzarella Cheese

Onion

Garlic

Cream Cheese

Mayonnaise

Unsalted Butter/Cooking Oil

Salt

Black Pepper

Paprika

Start by prepping your chicken.

Wash chicken thighs in cold water, trim fat and take out the membrane. Lay out on a paper towel and pat dry. Season with salt, pepper and paprika to taste and mix together making sure all the pieces are seasoned equally. Cover with a plastic wrap and set aside.

Note: seasoning the chicken first will give it a little extra time to marinate and absorb the seasonings giving your chicken more flavor as you prepare the filling.

For the filling: Cook 1 cup of rice with a pinch of salt. Rinse with cold water and strain. Place in a deep mixing bowl.

Finely dice the onion and fry in a pan with 1tbsp of butter until the onion is translucent then add to the rice.

Roughly chop spinach and add to the same bowl together with mozzarella cheese, pressed garlic, softened cream cheese, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and paprika to taste.

Mix everything very well to combine. Taste to see if you need more salt.

Prepare the chicken thighs by using a meat tenderizer and tenderize on both sides until it lays flat and even thickness throughout the piece. Cut the piece in half if desired and place a heaping spoon of the rice filling onto each piece and roll up. Secure with toothpicks if needed. repeat with the remaining chicken thighs.

Preheat a skillet on medium-high heat add 1tbsp of oil and 1tbsp of butter to the pan and brown the chicken rolls on all sides starting with placing the meat on the pan seam side down. Do this in batches to avoid steaming the meat. (if you have enough grease in the pan after your first batch, do not add more)

Transfer all the browned rolls to a baking dish, cover with a lid or foil and bake for 15- 20 minutes at 425F. (time depends on the thickness of the rolls. adjust time as needed) Chicken is ready when the thickest part reads 165F on an instant read thermometer.

Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!

P.S. These reheat wonderfully the next day.

Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below. Better still, snap a photo and tag it on Instagram with #alenashomecooking. I love seeing your creations.

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